Graffiti and Broken Windows on Pacific Avenue

On the night of Saturday, May 1, 2010, Occupy California provided breaking news coverage of an event that began as a large dance party at the clock tower in downtown Santa Cruz, roved through the streets, and eventually morphed into a small number of people breaking storefront windows, mostly at corporate chain stores, though not exclusively.

I was not at any portion of the event on Saturday, so I do not have photos from that night. The following photos were taken in the late morning of Sunday, May 2, as the graffiti and broken glass were being removed.

The following articles and video, listed for reference, discuss the situation further:

May Day party gets underway in Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Ca. — A dance party to celebrate International Workers’ Day in Santa Cruz morphed into a black bloc as it traveled through different parts of downtown with hundreds of participants and observers. As the crowd swelled to over 350, torches and flares were lit. The crowd zig-zagged through different side streets, eventually ending back on the main street downtown (Pacific Ave). As the crowd marched back to the clock tower, windows of corporate chains and bourgeois shops were smashed. Police presence was scarce; early on, one police car drove into the crowd to disperse it. Instead of leaving, the dancers stepped around the police car and threw paint on it. Only after the crowd voluntarily dispersed did any police appear.

10:35pm: A torch mob of about 300 people is headed down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, with hundreds of observers following. More info to come.

11:00pm: Graffiti: “Brick by brick we will bring it down”; “Destruction is the New Pink”; “Destroy the Destroyers” and others.

11:15pm: Several expensive “hipster” stores, corporate chain stores, and bourgeois shops that cater to tourists had their windows smashed.

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Author: Bradley Allen

Bradley Allen is a reporter and photographer in the Monterey Bay Area, and a collective member of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay). Follow him on social media: @BradleySA.
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